Since its foundation in 1897, Kyoto University has worked to cultivate academic freedom under a spirit of self-reliance and self-respect, and to open up new horizons in creative scholarly endeavor. The university has also sought to contribute to peaceful coexistence across the global community.

Our world is currently experiencing a number of rapid changes that would have been unimaginable in the 20th century. The global conflict structure, which was expected to be resolved with the end of the Cold War, is actually growing in both complexity and intensity as a result of ethnic and religious tensions. At the same time, the pace of global environmental degradation accelerates, unprecedented major disasters and deadly infectious diseases wreak havoc across the world, and financial crises shake both national economies and individual lives to the very core. Universities need to think seriously about what they stand for in these turbulent times.